by Amy Boyles
I wedged the book on the steering wheel and sighed. “I know. I haven’t forgotten my promise, don’t think I have. But it doesn’t say how to do it. V, it gives me absolutely no guidance at all. How the heck am I supposed to trap a creature if it doesn’t have a name and I don’t know how to use the book’s power without actually using the book?”
“I’ve been doing some research.”
I threaded my fingers through my honey and platinum locks. A greasy film covered my fingers. Ew. I really needed to wash my hair first chance I got.
“Well, please tell me that your research explains in great detail exactly how to infuse the book’s power in me for the rest of my life.”
“It doesn’t, though it offers hints. Think about it, Andie; if you wanted to use the book without being beholden to it, what would you have to do?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, eat it.”
“Andie, that’s ridiculous. You can’t eat a book.”
“I mean, you could if you were hungry enough and there wasn’t any food around.”
“Andie, you’ve just figured out what you need to do.”
I frowned. “You want me to destroy it?”
Vordrid rattled. “Yes. And now is as good a time as any.”
I glanced at the 8 Ball. “Right now?”
Vordrid pitched himself forward as if he was looking straight down into my seat. “Why not? What else do we have to do except watch the house?”
I glanced around the street. Lamps cast an eerie glow that spotlighted the homes. Still, the neighborhood was quiet. “Me attempting to destroy a magical book will definitely wake people up. Do you suggest where to do this?”
“I say we go to Maggie's backyard and see if she has room there.”
“I thought the whole idea was to be on a stakeout. She's not supposed to know we’re here. Because if she does, she'll freak out.”
“Let me think about this.” Vordrid paused for about three seconds total and then said, “Let's go ask her.”
“Now don’t you think that’ll look suspicious?”
“I guess we'll just have to see.”
I tucked Vordrid into my purse and made my way to Maggie's house. She answered in her bathrobe.
I cracked my knuckles. “Maggie, we’re staking out your house to make sure everything is okay. I know this is weird, but with all the Weatherby stuff that happened, we want to make sure everything's all right. So, can we use your backyard for a few minutes?”
At first Maggie stared at me dumbly. But after a few seconds she nodded her head and gestured toward the back.
Vordrid and I crept around to the backyard. We found an old playhouse for kids. Cobwebs crisscrossed the corners, but it was big enough we could comfortably sit or stand in.
“I guess you never know until you ask,” Vordrid said.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I know you’re right. Let's get started.”
“Great. How do you want to begin?” he said with enthusiasm that I didn't expect.
I pointed to my chest. “Me? You had the idea. I mean, if Dot was here, she would say she had magical acid in a can. I don't have magical acid, so do you have any ideas?”
Vordrid paused. “I say you thrust all the magic you've got into it.”
I tripped over my words. “All the magic I have? We have no idea how this is going to affect anything. But you think I should try to blow it away?”
“Yes.”
“Hasn’t one of your hunters tried this before? You’ve been around a long time, V.”
The 8 Ball pivoted back and forth. “Never.”
“Probably a good reason for that,” I mumbled. “Thrusting my magic into it could kill me, V.”
“Andie, how many times have you almost died in the past? Several, I know. Don't answer. I think out of all the vampires you’ve hunted, this is the least of your worries. I say do it.”
I scratched my head. Jetting every ounce of magic I had into the book seemed like a really stupid idea. First of all, the magic could ricochet back. Secondly— I don't know what secondly was, but obviously this could be bad.
“Is this the best idea you have?”
Vordrid landed on the book, which I’d placed on the wooden floor. “Yes, this is the best start. At least it will give us an idea of where to begin. If your magic doesn't affect the book at all, then we know that's not the route to take.”
I shook my head. “I can go ahead and tell you that this is not going to work. But I'll try, because I love you.”
I shook out my hands, loosening up, and straightened my spine. My head brushed the ceiling of the playhouse. I forced all thoughts that spiders could be in my hair out of my mind, even though that was nearly impossible, and pulled the energy from the air into my core.
Magic sparked and fizzled on my fingertips. “Stand back.”
I did it. I hurled every ounce of power I possessed into the leather-bound book. I let it go for a good ten seconds. Smoke filled the air. It was suffocating and I choked. But I kept on pushing. The acrid scent of burnt rubbish singed my nostrils. It was nearly unbearable. But if this was the only way I could stop a demon and possibly save my child, this was exactly what I was going to do. After a few seconds the mist drifted off, dissipating into the night. I blinked and coughed, waving away the lingering smoke.
The book was perfectly intact. I scooped it up. The thing wasn't even hot to the touch. I ran my fingers over the spine, over the cover, and peeled it back. The vellum was pristine, every page in tip-top condition.
“Well, Vordrid, that didn't work.”
“At least you tried, Andie. That's as much as we can say. You know, that Ron gentleman has done a lot of demon hunting. I wonder if he has an idea about how to wield the power.”
I fisted my hands to my hips in frustration. “I’m sure he does. I mean, he was a hunter on the demonic side. So let's just ask him, instead of trying to fool with all this stuff ourselves.”
Sometimes I really just thought I was dumb. Or that Vordrid was dumb. Either that or a lot of times Vordrid wanted me to do really hard stuff so that I could figure out if there was a much simpler solution. Yes, that was probably it.
I pulled out my phone, about to dial Ron's number, when a scream shattered the calm.
It came from the house. The phone slipped from my fingers, clattering across the floor. I ignored it and flew from the playhouse.
Silhouetted in front of the rear door stood a creature that took my breath straight from my lungs. It was green and covered with spiny scales. Horns projected from its head, and red eyes glared. Our gazes locked, and I pulled every bit of energy from the air. I had no choice; I had to use my magic on him.
I raised my hands, aimed and fired, expecting a stream of power to slam into the demon.
Nothing came.
I was tapped out.
The demon scowled at me. It turned around. In the shadow of the doorway stood Maggie's son, Jonas.
The demon turned and pulled the boy into him. A flash of light filled the night. It branched down to the spot where the demon had been standing.
The brightness faded to black.
In the second that the world was illuminated by a bolt of lightning, the demon and Jonas had disappeared.
NINE
Our group converged at Maggie's house. Maggie sat on her couch, a tissue clutched in her fingers. Tears poured down her face. Her eyes were puffy, swollen from all the crying.
“I don't know what happened,” she mumbled.
Ron sat on the couch next to her. He squeezed her shoulder. “I need you to tell us everything as you remember it.”
Maggie ground the heels of her hands into her eyes. Sobs filtered through her body. She sniffled a few times, blowing out a few breaths.
“I thought I heard voices. They were low, like murmurs, so I wasn't sure what was going on. I knew that Andie was in the backyard, so at first I thought it was her. But as I listened, I realized it was a darker voice, deeper, like a man’s. He was whispering to com
e with him. Come with me. He kept saying it over and over.”
She swallowed, taking a long pause. “I got out of bed and went into Jonas's room. He wasn't there. The voice was still drifting, floating throughout the house. I followed it until I reached the back door. And that's when I saw the thing. I can't even describe it—it was evil. All of it. The creature reached for my son. I screamed. The next thing I knew the door was thrown open. I saw Andie on the other side. The demon saw her, grabbed Jonas and they disappeared.”
A fresh rack of sobs permeated Maggie's body. Ron embraced her. After a few moments she got ahold of herself. She looked up at me. “You’ve got to save my son. Got to help him. He's all I have in this world.”
My heart broke for her. Maggie’s words sent a shudder through my entire body. It was like an arrow had been shot straight into my heart and the quivering end of it was rocking my core. All I could think was that the thing was coming next for Gabby. It was coming for her, and I had no way to stop it.
Ron motioned for Kate to come over. My best friend did, hugging Maggie and sitting with her while the rest of us—me, Ron, Stone, Dex and Vordrid—left for the kitchen.
“So you saw the thing?” Ron said to me.
I nodded. “It was pure evil. And it vanished exactly as Maggie said.”
Ron scratched his head, then raked his fingers down his cheek. I was waiting for him to say something, anything that would help us, guide us through this moment, but his silence scared me more than anything.
I flashed Dex a look, but his expression was unreadable. Stone leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. We had our work cut out for us. This was bad. This was trouble. Everything was spinning out of control, and we had to pull it back together.
“Ron, what do you want us to do?” I said.
“Go find the thing. We've got to trap it.”
“I'm so glad you said that,” I said. “Everything I've read in the handbook says that I have to be free of the book, but I don't know how.”
Ron shook his head. “I was a hunter, and I never trapped based on the book’s power. I had to invoke the power of God, and that didn’t always work. This is a high-level demon we’re dealing with. Unless we know who’s controlling it, we won’t be able to stop it.”
Dex scrubbed a palm over his chin. “I'm pretty sure I know who's controlling it,” he said. “It's the lord vampire, but I don't know where he is.”
“We've got to find him,” I said.
“The last time I dealt with something like this,” Ron said, “it wasn't a demon so much that we had to deal with, it was the person pulling the strings. Who would know where he is?”
Dex fisted his hand and tapped it to his chest. “I can’t get in touch with anyone who would know.”
I sighed. “I guess we can plan on the fact that the lord vampire’s coming here.”
All conversation stopped. Everyone turned to me, and I shrugged. “Well, it's obvious. Of course he's coming here. We’ve got to get to him before all our children are taken by this demon.”
Stone snapped his fingers. “I may have a method to keep the demon at bay. My contacts have a cross, a holy relic. If we break it apart and put pieces of it in each of the children's homes, that may stop the demon from entering, or at least slow the creature down.”
“Great,” I said. “We need to do that, and we need to do it now.”
Stone shook his bangs from his eyes. “I’ll get on it first thing in the morning.”
Ron nodded. “That seems like one of the best possibilities so far. Once we have that in place, then we can move forward on trapping the demon, as well as the vampire who sent him.”
I lowered my voice. I did not want Maggie to hear. “But what about Jonas? We need to protect our children, but we must also save this boy.”
Ron shook his head. “When we get the demon, we’ll find Jonas.” He raised a hand to ward off any questions. “And before you ask, setting a trap in one of the other homes is too risky. The demon has shown his ability to take a child. I won’t risk any more kids.”
I nodded and hugged my arms. He was right. We couldn’t risk anyone else’s safety. This was a powerful entity.
Kate offered to stay with Maggie that night. Ron called Sheriff Terry, who fired up an Amber alert for Jonas.
But I had my doubts it would work.
By the time I got home, I was exhausted. Stone and Dex both wanted to come with me. I’m pretty sure I did a huge eye roll about it, because I was just waiting for those two to have some kind of stupid fight, but believe it or not, they were good boys.
Pam left when we arrived.
“Y’all call me if you need me. I need to get back to working for the supernatural tribunal. Dex, don’t wait forever to call me next time.”
He gave her a weak smile. “I won’t.”
With that, Pert Pam left.
I fixed up the pull-out couch for Stone, who shook his head. “I don’t need sleep.”
I smiled. “But you might need to be comfortable.”
He nodded. “Good point.” He opened his arms, and I paused. I stared into his silvery gaze and felt a great sadness overwhelm me. I brushed away tears that threatened to burn down my face and allowed Stone to hug me.
It felt good. My body surged with emotion, but I couldn’t let go. I had to keep it together. Everything would be fine. We would get Jonas back and keep the other kids safe. We had to.
Or else.
We parted. “Thanks. I needed that.”
Stone slung his hands on his hips. “Well, you know that’s what I’m good for. Hugs.”
I laughed. “Yep. I know.”
He got settled in the living room, and I went into the kitchen, where Dot was making herself a cup of tea.
“Dot, I can’t believe you’re still up.”
Dot waved at me dismissively. “I know. These late hours aren’t good for my beauty sleep, but I suppose sometimes beauty comes second to other needs.”
“Yes, like today,” I said.
Dex entered the kitchen. He’d been so quiet since Jonas was taken. I needed to get him alone and talk to him, figure out what he knew. He made himself a glass of water and leaned his hips on the counter. He downed the drink in about three seconds and wiped the back of his arm over his mouth.
“You’ve got everything under control here with Stone,” he said.
My ears pricked up. “Are you leaving?”
He set the glass in the sink. “An angel is better protection against a demon than a vampire.”
I bit down on my lip. I needed him here, at least for a few minutes. “Do you have to leave?”
Something sparked in his gaze. “Do you want me to stay?”
Dot’s head volleyed from me to him and back throughout our conversation. I was acutely aware that she was listening and paying very close attention, I’m sure so that she could corner me later about the discussion.
Yes, I wanted Dex to stay. Yes, I wanted to hug him, to let myself go in his arms. It was something I could do when we’d been married—allow my true feelings to flood my body, and Dex always helped me through them.
With him I could let down my huntress hair and be vulnerable, be me. But with anyone else, I just couldn’t. I’d put up too many pretenses while I was a hunter, too much of a wall. But Dex knew the real me.
Even though I was different, even though I wasn’t the same woman I’d been before Gabby was born, there was still something about Dex that made me feel safe.
“You don’t have to stay,” I said, chickening out. “But what are you going to do?”
Dex rocked back on his heels. He drummed his fingers on the counter. Crap. Whatever he was going to say would be bad, I just knew it.
“Andie, can I talk to you a minute?”
“Sure.”
Dot eyeballed us like we were going out of style. I led him through the house to my bedroom. He shut the door behind him softly, and I took a stance by the window with arms folded and hip out.
<
br /> I was not going to be caught unaware if he had horrible news to share.
“Can I have a hug?” he said.
My body flinched. I itched to be wrapped in his arms, but I also knew he was about to drop a humungous bomb on me, one I wasn’t going to like at all.
“No,” I said.
His head dropped. When he lifted his gaze, his expression was hard, determined. It sent a cold streak straight to my heart.
“You have Ron and Stone here,” he said.
“Yes, I know. Stone’s in my living room trying to get some rest even though he doesn’t technically need it.”
“You don’t need me here.”
I shrugged. “I could use you here.”
“Andie, you won’t even touch me.”
I scoffed. “Because you’re about to tell me something I don’t want to hear. You know I won’t like it; that’s why you wanted me to hug you.”
Dex opened his mouth. A sliver of fang peeked out from his lips. “There’s something I need to do.”
I twisted the tail of my shirt, trying to distract myself. I could take it. Whatever he was going to tell me, I could handle it.
“I’m going to hunt down the lord vampire.”
My mouth dried. Panic scrambled up my throat. I pressed a hand to my neck, trying to calm my thundering heartbeat.
“You can’t leave, Dex,” I whispered.
“Andie, I have to. I need to go. If he’s behind this, I’ve got to find him. Like I said, making phone calls wasn’t working. I’ve got to hunt him down.”
“But he might be coming here,” I pleaded. “You can wait.”
Anger blazed in his eyes. “For what? For him to take our daughter?”
His anger struck me numb. My stomach quivered and knotted with raw emotion. “I know it’s risky.”
“No,” Dex said. “I’m going out there to track him down and end this once and for all.”
My lips trembled. Tears brimmed my eyes. I wiped them away and looked up. Dex studied me quietly. “What are you saying?”
Dex’s jaw hardened. “I’m going to find him, and this time, only one of us is going to come out alive.”
TEN
